Carcer City is a city used in Manhunt, a non-GTA Rockstar game which involves a mass murderer named James Earl Cash. Carcer City is an industrial town with a corrupt police chief (Gary Schafer) and a snuff film director who apparently calls the shots in town. There are white supremacists, murderers, and other sorts of criminals and rogues who rampage through the streets of the city. Carcer City is most likely based off Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia or Cleveland. Most likely Newark due to its closness to New York City which Liberty City is based on.

As appeared in the game, Carcer City has an asylum, a shopping mall (now derelict), an abandoned zoo, a junkyard and a subway.
It is mused that Carcer City would exist in the same fictional world as the GTA games, like Bullworth, because of overlaps and references within them. According to a news segment from GTA III, Carcer City is "nearby" to Liberty City.

Residents and Places

Lionel Starkweather, a.k.a. The Director - The purported ruler of Carcer City. He owns the police and makes many snuff films, in which the murders are real, in the city.

Gary Schaffer - The crooked Police chief of Carcer City. He is paid by Starkweather and often takes bribes. He is first mentioned in Grand Theft Auto III for being cleared of charges of corruption, but all of the witnesses in the case have gone missing. Many residents believe he is truly guilty, but he and Starkweather control the courts in Carcer City.

The following are many of the popular locations in Carcer City.

Carcer Zoo : Formerly a perfect place to make a trip with your family, it used to feature over a hundred different animals from all over the world, and is located in the heart of the city. Lately it had been ruled by gangs and all the animals have escaped. It is thought it is used by gangs as a hideout and a home for the city's worst thugs.

Darkwoods Penitentiary: Formerly a large mental asylum. The inmates have all escaped and formed their own psychopathic gang "The Smilies". The asylum being their only turf.

References from Grand Theft Auto

In Grand Theft Auto III A news segment on the in-game radio station Lips 106 reports that "police chief Gary Schaeffer was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial decision by the courts." This is an obvious allusion to a prominent character in this game. This shows that the police chief has been corrupt for two years (or more) before the events of Manhunt (most likely due to him dealing with Starkweather). The same news segment mentions Carcer City as being "nearby" to Liberty City.

There is also a "ghost town" in Liberty City, which is sometimes erroneously dubbed Carcer City.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas In the beginning of the game, a radio advertisement for Carcer City makes references to steel mills being closed and "dining in the glow of the Flaming River," which may be the best indication of the city's inspiration. Many steel mills in the Midwest closed during the era when the game was set, including those in Pittsburgh, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, MI. The "Flaming River" is a clear reference to the "Burning River", a period in the 1970s where the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio was polluted enough that it caught fire.

In GTA SA, There are blue propane tanks with "Carcer Gas!" on them.

Also in the beginning, a woman on the WCTR show "The Wild Traveller" calls from Carcer City asking why anyone would want to vacation there.

When bumped into, a pedestrian says "Hey! This isn't Carcer City OKAY!"

On the Shores of Palomino Creek north of Los Santos there are several large, wooden, spool-shaped objects with the words (almost indistinguishably) "Jartnuk Cable Company" and "Carcer" on them.

In Zero's RC store, there is an action figure of James Earl Cash, along with Piggsy, Tommy Vercetti and Lance Vance.